Real estate magnate and former Councilmember Allan Domb is running for Philly mayor

Allan Domb, a real estate magnate known as the “condo king” who served on City Council for six years, announced he is running for mayor in an online video message posted Tuesday morning.

“I love our city, but over the last few years, Philadelphia has been in a public safety crisis,” Domb said in the video. “People don’t feel safe walking our streets. They don’t feel safe sending their kids to school. They don’t even feel safe going to work. And too few people have the opportunities they need to get ahead.”

Domb joins a crowded and growing field in next year’s race to replace term-limited Mayor Jim Kenney. Former Councilmembers Cherelle Parker, Maria Quiñones Sánchez, and Derek Green, and former City Controller Rebecca Rhynhart have all resigned from their positions to run in the May 2023 Democratic primary.

» READ MORE: Who is running for Philadelphia mayor in 2023?

Grocer Jeff Brown is expected to announce his candidacy on Wednesday. Councilmember Helen Gym and State Rep. Amen Brown (D., Phila.) are also said to be eyeing the race. And Republican Councilmember David Oh has said he is considering seeking the GOP nomination.

Philadelphia’s Home Rule Charter requires city officials to step down from their current posts to run for new offices. Most candidates simultaneously resign and announce their candidacies, as several of Domb’s rivals in the mayoral race have done.

But Domb took the unusual step of resigning in August while he was still considering running. In the meantime, he conducted a “listening tour” that consisted of several roundtable discussions with voters across the city as speculation mounted about when he would enter the race.

» READ MORE: ‘Condo King’ Allan Domb owns more than 400 properties in Philly. What happens if he becomes mayor?

He also went through what could be the first campaign staff shake-up of the 2023 municipal election cycle. The communications firm Pod 3 Strategies left his team just weeks after signing on. Pod 3 referred questions to the campaign.

Domb spokesperson Dan Fee said the firm was not fired, but he declined to elaborate on why it is no longer with the campaign other than to say, “It wasn’t the right fit.”

Domb, 67, was born in New Jersey, and he started his real estate career in Philadelphia in the late 1970s while working as a locksmith in Center City. He developed a reputation as a tireless worker, specialized in the downtown condo market, and was recognized by the National Association of Realtors as the nation’s top residential salesperson at 33 years old.

He later began amassing a real estate portfolio of his own, primarily in Rittenhouse Square and other Center City neighborhoods, and now has more than 400 properties in the city that are worth well more than $400 million, making him one of the most notable landlords in downtown Philadelphia.

It’s unclear how Domb, if elected, will safeguard against potential conflicts of interests with his myriad investments, which in addition to real estate include stakes in parking lot and restaurant businesses.

In response to an Inquirer report on the potential complications his investments could pose if he becomes mayor, a spokesperson said Domb will announce a plan that “will exceed the ethics standards set by the city to ensure that he is doing everything in accordance with relevant laws and policies, and will abstain from any legislative or executive actions as they pertain to his properties or business entities.”

On Council, Domb developed a reputation as a critic of wasteful spending and an advocate for making the city more friendly to business. A centrist Democrat, Domb has championed changes to the city’s highest-in-the-nation wage tax aimed at helping low-income residents, and opposed a tax on new construction that was approved by Council in 2021. He has also spoken repeatedly about the need for financial literacy classes in Philadelphia public schools.

With the city gripped by historic levels of shootings and homicides, public safety is sure to be a major theme in next year’s mayoral race. Domb has said he would address the gun violence crisis by reevaluating the city’s antiviolence spending, declaring a state of emergency to deal with the Kensington neighborhood’s drug crisis, and working to make sure the city’s young people have job opportunities.

“We need to protect our communities by rebuilding trust in our law enforcement and investing in antiviolence programs that actually work,” Domb said in his campaign launch video. “And we have to address the root causes of crime. We need to invest in our schools and businesses to keep and to create good-paying jobs.”

Staff writer Anna Orso contributed to this article.